Over a year ago, and fifty walks ago, Becky Taylor and Tim Brill started Trenton Walks! lunchtime walks to learn more about Trenton, and to share the capital city with others. They estimate that together they have walked from Trenton to Florida. They aiming for Key West. I'm sure after that they will aim for even further away.
Last week's walk was from City Hall to the State House. Though Thomas was our guide, he often graciously ceded the floor to local experts who just happen to be on the tour. While talking about the history of the1689 grist mill in Mill Hill, someone chimes in they remember when the river was uncovered and how wildlife has since returned to the area.
As we passed ArtWorks one man proudly states that he just received a call about a grant to revitalize the area. Then shares with us really exciting news about plans to bring Trenton back to life (including building The American Graffiti museum (TAG)). Don has lived in the area for six decades, and I've been here since 1988, so we are both cautiously optimistic about the news. If only a portion of what is planned to happen really happens Trenton will transform before our eyes.
We took the path along the Assunpink to the Italian marble statue of George Washington behind Passage Theater (where Ashley was working at that moment), across the street from where one of her childhood best friends used to live. We heard the statue was made for the 1867 Centennial in Philadelphia. It was moved to Cadwallader Park where it was graffitied, and since restored, then tucked away in this park.
We paused in the shade at the top of the War Memorial where we could see an empty grassy area that had once been part of Trenton's Stacy Park. The city has received a grant to revitalize the space.
As we walked back to the start Thomas pointed across Warren and State streets to where the second Masonic Temple once stood and said that was the home of the first professional basketball game in 1896.
It is also where the Constitution was signed. As we gear up for the sesquicentennial of our nation's founding, we'll be learning more about what happened here during the Revolutionary War.
Trenton has a lot of history.
The following Wednesday Don and I returned for walk #51. We walked from the canal parking lot up to the new pedestrian path on the Scudders Falls Bridge. This talk was led by members of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) -- a group of 37 people who keep an eye on the water safety for the entire Delaware River, which stretches from Hastings, NY to Delaware. They work with people from the governments of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and the federal government.
During the Industrial Revolution era, the Delaware (the longest undammed river in America) provided the hydromechanical power located by what is now Waterfront Park. Ships traveled from Philadelphia to New York City along the canals. They went uphill, and back downhill through a series of locks. Seven from Trenton to New Brunswick. Seven from Trenton to Bordentown.
In the 1840s the Delaware River was an open sewer. Today we drink the water thanks to the work of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that began in 1972. Today the DRPC maintains it so it does not return to that fate.
The Delaware River is unique in that parts of it are freshwater and parts are saltwater. This unique attribute is why the shad thrive near Lambertville.
The next walks will be on August 24th and September 6th.
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